Me, Don, Ed, Mac and Chuck and the 206Today, four buddies and I took off at 0-dark-thirty to fly to Prescott to get our bi-annual flight physicals. We all live here at the airport and all fly different kinds of planes. Ed has a Debonair; Don, a Mooney; Mac, a Sierra; and Chuck has two RV-6s that he built himself. Today we took my Cessna U206 since it has six seats.
What a beautifully smooth flight. We were surprised to see no snow on the Hualapai Mountains near Kingman. There was only a smattering of snow on the peaks to the south also. Although we didn’t see much snow, we did see a few trails that would be fun to cycle or hike in the summer time.
In less than an hour we were there, way too early for our appointments. The temperature was a nippy 24 degrees F. Flight Service said -5C. Cold however you say it, especially in the shade. BBBrrrrrrrrr. We all wanted coffee just to warm up our hands, so we went first to the airport coffee shop. Breakfast was an afterthought. It was pretty reasonably priced as well.
Getting back to the plane was interesting as we had to go through a locked gate and none of us bothered to remember the code that was printed on the other side. With a little help we made it through and were able to taxi ourselves to the other side of the airport to Ritt-Aire where Dr. Ritter has his practice. The Doc is an old friend of mine from Bullhead City. He used to have the only clinic in town, many years ago. We reminisced about old friends as I got my physical. We all passed, even Chuck, who will be 90 this November. He is also the only one of us that doesn't wear glasses.
The flight home was actually slightly longer even though we were going downhill. We skirted some mountains rather than skimming the top in order to avoid the bumps. As I skimmed it onto the runway there was a great round of applause. Whether it was for my landing or for getting them back alive they wouldn't say. One thing I have to say, though, it is a lot easier to push the plane back up into the hangar with five people than it is with only me.
What a beautifully smooth flight. We were surprised to see no snow on the Hualapai Mountains near Kingman. There was only a smattering of snow on the peaks to the south also. Although we didn’t see much snow, we did see a few trails that would be fun to cycle or hike in the summer time.
In less than an hour we were there, way too early for our appointments. The temperature was a nippy 24 degrees F. Flight Service said -5C. Cold however you say it, especially in the shade. BBBrrrrrrrrr. We all wanted coffee just to warm up our hands, so we went first to the airport coffee shop. Breakfast was an afterthought. It was pretty reasonably priced as well.
Getting back to the plane was interesting as we had to go through a locked gate and none of us bothered to remember the code that was printed on the other side. With a little help we made it through and were able to taxi ourselves to the other side of the airport to Ritt-Aire where Dr. Ritter has his practice. The Doc is an old friend of mine from Bullhead City. He used to have the only clinic in town, many years ago. We reminisced about old friends as I got my physical. We all passed, even Chuck, who will be 90 this November. He is also the only one of us that doesn't wear glasses.
The flight home was actually slightly longer even though we were going downhill. We skirted some mountains rather than skimming the top in order to avoid the bumps. As I skimmed it onto the runway there was a great round of applause. Whether it was for my landing or for getting them back alive they wouldn't say. One thing I have to say, though, it is a lot easier to push the plane back up into the hangar with five people than it is with only me.
